Loxton

The club was formed in 1926 but the course at Loxton Golf Club’s current location dates back only as far as 1951, when local man Eddie Johnson laid out eighteen holes. Vern Morcom was called in to make changes before the installation of a fairway irrigation system in the early 1960s.

Grass greens followed in 1974, with Brian Crafter setting out the new putting surfaces on holes 1 to 14 and Kevin Harrington fashioning the closing four greens. The original layout remains largely intact, though the nines were swapped in 1966.

In the more modern era, the course measures 6079 metres from the back tees, playing to a par of 72, and tree-lined fairways on this 125-acre property are arranged as two returning nines, with bunkers found on only ten of the holes.

Highlights include the first of the par threes at the 2nd (played from a raised tee to a green guarded by a bunker to the front right), along with the left doglegging uphill par four 9th which is rated stroke index 1 on the card.

On the back nine, the last of the par threes at the 15th looks benign without any sand hazards to protect the green (but it’s often played into the wind which doesn’t help) and the tight par four 18th is a tough hole to end the round, bending slightly left to the home green.